ZOO TODAY!

Mommy needed some time with just Ashey & Daniel, so we went to our favorite place-- THE ZOO! We had so much fun...really spending time looking at the animals and trying to see new things--like we watched a guy feed the penguins & we talked with him about other zoos, and we found some birds that we hadn't seen before (there are owls in the back, so we're going to come at night--maybe around Halloween or Christmas, for the Zoo Lights), we spent a lot of time inside Bird World & the fish place (both are very humid), and of course, we got out Pepsi in our Zoo Cups (Daniel & I had lemonade) and we listened to our Zoo CD and sang, "Daddy's take us to the zoo tomorrow, zoo tomorrow, zoo tomorrow; Daddy's taking us to the zoo tomorrow and we can stay all day!" Actually, David is in Iowa for the weekend, watching a Hawkeye football game. Mommy will figure something out that she'd like to do some weekend coming up...

Monday, Monday (9-15)

Instead of having Monday be our "down day" like we used to have it...we now have Maggie, Ryan & Luke over at our house in the morning...then Sawyer & Lauren get dropped off from preschool and we all eat lunch together and then Luke goes home and the older kids play for awhile longer and then they nap (sometimes, that's just a happy thought)! So we have 7 kids over here (for an hour)...busy, busy! So...I had to get a pic of Daniel in those shoes, then Maggie wanted to pose, & Ashley couldn't be left out of a photo op!

FALL FOOTBALL SEASON!

Yes, the fall football season started! As you can see, Ashley is decked out in her Orange & Blue and ready to cheer for the Gators with Mommy... and Daniel is helping Daddy root for the Hawkeyes, in black & gold!! We also got our new fish...his name is Blue and the best part is that he is blue & orange--too cool! It was a gift from God, sent directly to Andrea, via Wal Mart! GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GATORS!
I missed this pic--Daniel was looking up at Ashley wish such joy & admiration. They truly love each other & we are very blessed!

Sandstone Park Wed, 9-3

We got home from our vacation on Labor Day (Monday) and had kids over at our house the very next day! Then on Wednesday, Sept 3, we had Luke over in the morning, went into church to have a meeting with Jen, then met Krista, Erika and Kyra at the park and Tammy & Lily (we took Lily home with us). It was fun to be outside and with friends.

News

I started my new job this morning! I've been blessed with a wonderful opportunity to be part of our Children's Ministry at the main campus of LifeBridge Christian Church. I will be the Director of Kids Oasis, our child care for programs like the moms groups, Bible studies, special events. I will also continue to watch children from our home, but it will be cut back a bit. David and I also teach in the 2s & 3s class out at Tri-Towns and I am the team lead for that and we lead our small group... so... we're going to have an extremely busy fall, but it will all be worth it. This will really help our family's finances and hopefully allow us to travel a bit more, to reconnect with friends and family who live all over the country and to maybe save some for retirement, which will have to happen someday!

David bought me red roses, to welcome us home and congratulate me for my new position...I'll post a pic of those the next time I download.

I just thank God for the way he has blessed us and I pray that he will continue to do so. Please pray for Kids Oasis, for me and for the workers who really want to be a part of something special! God bless! andrea
I didn't download until Friday, Sept 26! It's been a LONG few weeks...

Iowa

We left Thursday evening and drove through the night. We made our usual stop in Ankeny (outside of Des Moines) to have breakfast at the Village Inn, with my dear friend Kelly (I used to watch her son Ricky, when I was 13). We made it to Eldora, where David's older brother, Roger and his wife Cathy, run a Christian camp. This is where we had our family reunion and a wonderful time with David's side of the family. Can you tell what Ashley's new pose is? Then we headed to the Quad Cities and spent time with David's cousin, Debbie and her husband Paul and their whole family (at Liz's birthday party)...and then we spent time with Grandma Sutton & with Grandpa Sutton, in his garden and with Rick, Laura, Melanie & Marissa and with Debbie & Paul again.

Chicago & Tennessee

We left for Chicago early Tuesday morning and enjoyed some time at the Lincoln Park Zoo. While driving through major traffic in downtown Chicago, I was talking to my mom and she informed me that she almost miscarried me there...that was nice to know. It's a wonderful, free zoo and we enjoyed our time there. We had lunch with Mike & Elaine Small, although we have no pics, b/c they do not like to be photographed (didn't even take wedding pics--I'm starting to wonder if one of them is hiding from the law--or possibly something else...things that make you go hmmm...). We drove as far as we could and landed at a Holiday Inn Express around midnight, at the border of Indiana and Louisville, Kentucky (it's odd b/c we drove through a section of Eastern time, but then ended up back in Central time). We stopped in Nashville, TN to go to the Grand Old Opry (see how excited the kids were to get out of their car seats and RUN around?!) and had lunch with David's co-worker, Sandra and her husband John, at the Crackerbarrell. We made it to Bob & Nancy Grubb's home that afternoon and enjoyed good times with them and their grandson's--Aiden & Braiden. Bob was my dad's best friend and they came to our wedding in Gatlinburg (Bob was the guy in the dress, in that pic on the right). I got to see Irene for a little while before we left--I've known her since I was probably 8. Then we headed south, towards Alabama... on the road again...